Wonderful life, hello again wonderful world
by Luorescence
Summary: The attack was finished and the fog disappeared, revealing to Brook's eyes the fateful end of his crew.


**Rating:** G  
**Disclaimer:** Although I took the liberty of naming some of the crew, I own nobody.

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**Wonderful life, hello again wonderful world**

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Gently palming his scalp, the slender man couldn't help sighing. He could feel the thick blood bleeding from it. He blinked, removing it from his eyes as it flowed on the lower part of his face. The injury was bad, but far from deadly. He was in pain and the scar would without a doubt be ugly but, he would survive. He was a pirate. It wasn't a little thing like that, which would kill him. In fact, if it weren't for the expending soreness in his muscles, he was very fine. He scratched his head, glancing around him.

And then, the fog disappeared, taking with it, all the thick masking clouds.  
Everyone was there, on the upper deck, seating in each others' arms, hugging and looking at this life they had been sure to lose.  
The attack had been perfect. Swift and fast. They had been taken by surprise and their answer had been a bit too slow. But, they had survived. All of them.

Or not. He could easily distinguish, there and there, corpses. His eyes fell on the trap to below, at the base of the grand mast. There, one of the Mizuta twins had his brow pierced by a sword, and another stuck into his chest, leading him to an instant death. His brother was seating right next to him, a hand hiding his face. The two of them had been talented flutists, on board since even before him, always looking up to him. He remembered their constant compliments and encouragements. The smile as they were playing and sparing. The fraternal link which tied one to the other, enforced by the fact they were twins. But now, one of them had left, letting the other down. He couldn't even begin to imagine how life would be for Mawaritosuki.

Not far from there, Noah was standing in a cross position, his white shirt decorated with blood stains, arrows proudly sticking to his pectorals. His dearly beloved guitar sound resonated to his ears. He wasn't that good with it, but it didn't matter, because the blond had loved music. It was all that counted. Moreover, the doctor had died swords in hands, as honorably as all swordsmen could dream of.

He left the dead ones as one of his comrade came to him, looking like the happier man on all seas. A smile forced itself on his lips, although not as big as it usually were.

"Captain! We thought we were going to die!" he laughed heartily. "But I'm so glad to be alive!"

To fall back immediately as the one who said that, Jace, their fat drummer with a heart of gold, fell flat on his face, a bright smile still on him. His heart clenched. Just like Noah, this one had been around longer than him. In fact, he had been sticking since the beginning. He already missed the enchanting tempo of his hands tapping his percussions.

"Guys? What's with Jace?"

That time, it was the young Kelvin, no more than sixteen, still a little boy with eyes filled with dreams of the horizons. A young genius with his saxophone aspiring to become a pirate that could make people cry with his music. Exactly the sort of boy Captain Yorki would have like very much. One of the sort they all were when little. Except for a lot of scratches, with some needing a little stitching that anybody could do, he looked very fine. The tall man pated him on the head as he continued:

"I feel a little sick and my vision is kinda blurry, but I'll live. That attack? It was nothing!"

There were cheers and laughs, applauses and feet tapping on the woods. The little guy was right. They were pirates. That sort of thing happened everyday, moreover when being in Grand Line. There was nothing to do to change that. But they would give them a concert for funeral, with joy and happiness. It was the least they could do.

"But, there's poison on their weapons. Look, there's no other way Jace could have died. And Noah's dead too."

Noises died as a heavy silence invited itself to the deck, weighing like a Damocles sword hanging upon him.

At this moment, the fog had disappeared, lifting his hope down, with a bitter sensation pulsing through his vein.  
Everyone was there, on the upper deck, seating in each others arms, hugging and looking at this life they were sure to lose in no time.

It was there, tainting everybody with its bloody mark. Running after their boat at an remarkable speed, Death was sure to rejoin them. Because there was not a chance in the world any of them could survive this.  
He was hoping he would be the sole one to die. Because he would be revived by his devil fruit. Moreover, it would also mean that, as a captain, he had succeed in protecting his crew. His precious crew. The one Captain Yorki had asked him to take care of.

These brave men who had made him captain and followed him until there without a single doubt. These wonderful men who shared his love for music. These perfect men who made everyday feels like being in heavens, no matter what happened.

There were nothing he hold dearest in his heart than them.

And he had miserably failed.

He really felt like a ingrate, immensely stupid prick. They didn't merit what was happening. Any of them. He gulped with difficulty, uncertain of what to say to these pairs of eyes looking upon him with despair at the hard realization about what was waiting for them. Because at this instant, he couldn't think of any words to soothe them.

"Captain! And for Laboon? Because there's no way we'll be able to see him again, right?"

He was right. They wouldn't be able to keep their promise. Hopefully, Laboon would forget them.

"Ya know him Captain. He'd wait for us till the end of time. We already tried one time: it didn't work. I really don't want to think how much he'll be disappointed."

That was true. The baby whale was not one to forget his friends. Nor said friends were like that.

"Captain. That devil fruit you ate... You'll live again right?"

He didn't knew. Honestly, the idea of living all alone, without his music-lovers companions had a bittersweet taste he wasn't keen of experimenting. Not when they should had been living altogether, as well as dying altogether.

"Will you pass him a message for us? Please tell him we're very sorry for not being able to keep our promise and made him wait for nothing."

Life was so unfair.

Brook shook his head. But again, they were pirates. It was the life they had engaged in, choosing to live it to the fullest. He let his lungs fill with air, before forcing a loud laugh out of it. He clapped in his hand. They might be dead in no time but, for now, they were still very alive. Most of them. There was no way in this world, Death would find them mourning and lamenting.

"Listen to me guys! I have a terribly awesome idea we could have die without doing. Although we will surely die when doing. Yohohoho!"

He was the captain. He was bound to lead them through anything, from a bright life to a brave death. And he would do it like everything they did.

"We are the Rumbar Pirates! We are the crew who can make a child cry with music! We are the crew who will make Life cry for letting us go! We are the crew who will make Death cry for taking us away! Go take your instruments and let's play and sing till the end of time!"

That time, his laugh and smile were true as he saw his men moving, with a childish eagerness and pure bliss. Because music and sea were what they were born for. What they would die with. In a way, nothing could have been better. His hand slid into the pocket sewn to the interne part of his jacket, retrieving a precious little object he was keeping next to his heart.

"Guys, play with all you heart content!" he screamed, lifting the shell high in the air for everyone to see it. "Because Laboon will be listening to us! I'll definitely give it to him! We have to make him cry and sing along with us, but not from sadness, you understand?! Because there's no way we'd be sad when playing for a friend!"


End file.
